CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — More than three dozen postal workers from across West Virginia gathered in Clarksburg on Friday to bring attention to their concerns.

The group said that poor working conditions related to staffing shortages, being overworked and having to endure harassment and bullying from management were the reasons for the protest. The group, which met at the U.S. Postal Service location on Emily Drive in Clarksburg, said this is a nationwide problem.

“We have to let the public know because if the public notices that it’s taking longer to get their mail, they need to let their representatives know to hold the Postal Service accountable for what’s going on,” said Sinikka Melvin, President, WV Postal Workers Union.

Protestors at the USPS on Emily Drive in Clarksburg on Friday

Tracy Mullennex, a representative of the APWU’s Young Members Committee from Clarksburg also told 12 News that the group wants to put a stop to the Postmaster General’s 10-year plan which will “eventually demolish the postal service. Especially for Rural America,” by closing smaller post offices.

The union said it has already met with Congressman Alex Mooney and Senator Joe Manchin about their concerns.

The APWU website says, “We are speaking up together to demand dignity and respect from postal management so that we can end the short-staffing crisis, stop toxic management practices, and keep delivering a strong public Postal Service.”

12 News reached out to the Postal Service for comment but had not received a response at the time of original publication.

USPS then released a statement Saturday regarding the situation, saying:

“The position being presented here by the leadership of the APWU is absent of anything based in reality.  The facts are… that over the past two years, we have worked diligently with our union and management associations to address our shared goals of employee recruitment and retention, workplace safety, and career training and advancement.  We have focused steadily on stabilizing our workforce resulting in employee availability and overtime requirements being at the most favorable levels in many years. We have converted 125,000 pre-career workers to full-time career employees since October 2020, including 50,000 conversions between April 2022 and March 2023.  We have already reversed years of declining service reliability and now 98 percent of the nation’s population receives their mail and packages in less than three days, and we are working hard to correct service-related issues in the other limited areas.

“By developing the high-performing operation envisioned by our Delivering for America 10-year plan, we will create the safest and healthiest environment possible for our employees. For additional details on our progress, please see our Delivering for America  Second-Year Progress Report released this week.”